The UCU Branch Committee Elections 2022 are now open.
The election for UCU Branch Officers and Committee members is now open. Nominations for the following posts are welcome. The existing post-holder’s name is in brackets.
Chair (Sean Broome); Vice-Chair (Kulsoom Pridmore); Secretary: (Claire Tupling); Membership Secretary (Ruth Mieschbuehler); Treasurer (vacant); Heath and Safety Officer (Rosemary Horry); Equality Officer (Teresa Forde); UDOL Rep (Prateek Adikari); Anti-Casualisation Rep (Francesco Belcastro); Learning Rep: (Joanna Poon); (plus committee Member vacancies).
Nomination forms are available here from Monday 11 April:
The process of election is as described below:
The AGM will be held on Wednesday 18 May.
The nomination process will open on Monday 11 April and close on Friday 22 April at 12 noon. The election for any contested posts will open on Monday 25 April and close on Friday 6 May at 12 noon.
The results of the election will be posted on the UCU Derby Branch website on 19 May and the Regional Office and the University will be informed on that day.
Best wishes
Sean Broome (UCU Branch Chair)
The University of Derby has just rolled out a new Policy document, entitled How We Work. UCU Derby does not endorse this document.
The University presented UCU Derby with their plan to introduce How We Work earlier in the year. The UCU committee decided unanimously to reject this document, and our friends in Unison (representing non-academic staff at the University) did likewise. However, the University has ignored the concerns of both unions and has gone ahead and implemented it anyway.
There are several reasons why we do not endorse How We Work, including:
Please read How We Work and make your own judgement. It can be found in Policy Hub on the University intranet. If you have any concerns about the content of this document, please let me know.
Best wishes
Sean Broome (UCU Derby Branch Chair)
The following were duly elected:
The above will hold office until the next AGM to be held on Wednesday 18 May 2021
This is an extract from an Email sent to all UCU members at Leicester University of 4 February declaring a dispute
We’re in the midst of a global pandemic. Contrary to its rhetoric of the prioritisaton of student and staff well-being and ‘citizens of change’ – revealed to be nothing more than cynical marketeer speak – our employer has adjudged such a moment to be ‘perfect’ to make redundant 145 employees. This is after abandoning a similar number of casualised staff 10 months ago and insisting on shared-air teaching, to the detriment of staff health, student health and public health. That the executive board is prepared to repeatedly put at stake our livelihoods and our lives suggest they are not fit for their office. Following an overwhelmingly supported vote at our EGM last week, we asked management to assure us that there would be no compulsory redundancies from the Business Cases. They were unable to do this and so yesterday we formally declared a dispute between Leicester UCU and the University of Leicester and we will keep you informed of the next steps soon. But we need to start preparations now!
We believe another university is possible and now, our centenary year, might the perfect moment to remake our institution – as well as defend the livelihoods and lives of those of us at immediate risk. We are going to set up a new mailing list open to all UCU members who want to play an active part – this might be by participating in discussions, or by volunteering to take on tasks like writing to newspapers, publicising petitions, approaching colleagues.
The independent returning officer, Nicholas Joseph, declared on Friday 17 April at 12.30 that the following were duly elected as members of the UCU Branch Committee 2020-2021:
University of Derby UCU 